Dispatches from the Middle
Frontline insights on mediation, reform and resolution
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· 9 min read
The Clock Is Ticking: Why Demand for Experienced Mediators Is About to Surge
The Ontario court system isn’t just slow. It’s teetering on collapse in many jurisdictions. Civil trials are now being booked into late 2026 and…
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· 5 min read
Navigating CAT Designation in Ontario: A System Under Pressure
Introduction: CAT Designation in Context
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· 4 min read
Threshold or Not? Recent Ontario Cases Shaping the Serious Impairment Standard
Introduction
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· 10 min read
Soft Tissue, Hard Truths: Credibility, Chronic Pain, and the Threshold Battleground in Ontario Courts
Introduction: Between Skepticism and Suffering
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· 5 min read
In The Ditch: Turning Mediation Breakdowns Into Breakthroughs
In every mediator’s career, there are many moments when negotiations stall.
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· 6 min read
Executor Insurance and No-Contest Clauses: Navigating the Duty to Defend Amid Beneficiary Objections
Understanding Executor Liability Insurance
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· 6 min read
No Soup for You: When Surveillance Destroys Subjective Injury Claims
It was a textbook example of how credibility can implode in an instant.
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· 7 min read
Rewriting Discovery: Ontario’s Proposed Shift to an Up-Front Evidence Model
In 1985, Ontario undertook a major codification of its civil justice system—transforming scattered procedural principles into a unified set of Rules of Civil Procedure.…
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· 11 min read
The Credibility Crisis: Rebuilding Trust in Expert Evidence Through Civil Reform
I recently prepared for a mediation involving the death of a family patriarch. It was a high-stakes case—personal, tragic, and contentious. In the lead-up,…
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· 7 min read
The Last, Best Chance: Mediating Before Trial in the Age of Judicial Resource Scarcity
A System Under Strain